For the past 8 weeks or so, I’ve been meeting with a group of wonderful girls and we are reading Calm My Anxious Heart together. This book is awesome! If you have ever stressed over something, dealt with anxiety, or have felt overwhelmed… this book is for YOU! Every woman can totally benefit from it.
Cheryl, hosts the book study at her house each week. We’ve all taken turns bringing dinner, so we eat, chat about our week, and review a chapter together. In addition to hosting our book study, Cheryl also has a little craft for us to do or a verse for us to take home to help us remember what we’ve learned from the book. There are questions for each chapter, so you can really take what you’ve read and apply it to your life. Its a nice change of pace from the rest of my week.
This past week, the chapter was about worry. Who doesn’t worry?!? We all have this in common – especially us moms and wives. Worry is our middle name. We talked about ways to give our worries to God. One suggestion from the book is with an “anxiety bag”. You simply write your worries down on a piece of paper and drop them in the bag. We decorated our own anxiety bags to take home as reminders not to hang on to our worries – and to give them to God.
I wasn’t feeling very crafty the night we decorated these, but my bag has meaning. I wrote sayings and verses on mine to help remind me to let go of my worries…
“Life is like a rocking chair, it will give you something to do but it won’t get you anywhere.”
“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”
“… don’t be anxious about anything”
“Give all of your anxieties to God…”
“Pray, plan, and prepare for tomorrow…”
“Through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
That’s all we can do, right? We never gain anything by worrying. It is amazing to me how all the messages from this book come just at the right time for you to really apply them to your life in some way.
How have you been able to give up your anxieties and worries?
i love this idea!! i might have to make something like this for myself...
ReplyDeleteI worry and have a hard time letting it go, especially about our daughters. An old pastor of ours said holding onto worry is like holding up a glass of water-it doesn't weigh much at first, but the longer you hold it up there, the more tired your arm gets... the heavier that burden becomes. I think of it when I "give it to God"... but then take the worry back again. Love this worry bag idea. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis group has been so awesome! This is the first time I have tried the bag idea... at first, I wasn't sure, but each time I think of one of the things I wrote down and put in there, I remind myself that it's "in the bag." :) I don't have to worry about it anymore. It actually is helping.
ReplyDeleteThat Cheryl is one clever cookie! What great ideas she comes up with for your group! I really need to read that book. I'm a bit of a worrier, mostly over things I can't control... maybe it would calm my anxious heart! lol
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